Aunt holds key to Pyongyang transition

A 65-year-old who made headlines last year when she opened Pyongyang’s first 24-hour burger bar has emerged with her husband as the power behind the throne in communist North Korea.

When a weeping newsreader announced the death of Kim Jong Il earlier this week, she also issued a carefully worded call for unity behind his chosen successor, Kim Jong Un.

The problem is that whereas the older Kim had 20 years to prepare for power at the side of his own father, the state founder Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Un was only formally annointed heir 15 months ago. At the age of just 27 or 28, he has yet to prove himself in political and military circles.